Originally released on Oct. 11, 2013

First seen by Mariner 10 in 1974, Tansen has not been featured on MESSENGER's gallery until today. It is among Mercury's smaller named craters at just 27 kilometers (~17 mi.) in diameter. The ejecta rays formed by the impact appear prominent in this color mosaic, as does the small, fresh crater ejecta deposit at the very top of the image.

This image was acquired as a targeted high-resolution 11-color image set. Acquiring 11-color targets is a new campaign that began in March 2013 and that utilizes all of the WAC's 11 narrow-band color filters. Because of the large data volume involved, only features of special scientific interest are targeted for imaging in all 11 colors.

Date acquired: September 09, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 21069217, 21069209, 21069205
Image ID: 4791897, 4791895, 4791894
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 3.84°
Center Longitude: 288.4° E
Resolution: 301 meters/pixel
Scale: Tansen is approximately 27 kilometers (17 mi.) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 31.7°
Emission Angle: 24.5°
Phase Angle: 56.2°

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. MESSENGER acquired over 150,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.

For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.